Structure for Your Writing Life

Learn from my mistake and triumphs, kiddoes…

Towards the end of the challenge, I’m noticing something about the people who are participating in the challenge: they’re getting more comfortable with tretaing the challenge as a support, not a cage.

What kind of support do you need, around your writing life?

Want to participate on your own schedule, get the StoryADay Challenge Handbook

Truth Bomb!

Learn from my mistake and triumphs, kiddoes…

An update from my StoryADay Challenge including travel; a migraine; whether or not writing streaks matter; and what to do when you don’t stick to your own rules for the challenge…

Haven’t joined the challenge yet? Do that here

Want to participate on your own schedule, get the StoryADay Challenge Handbook

Efficient Writing Warm Ups

In which I talk about the dangers of free-writing, morning pages, and journaling…

Upgrade now to the Online Challenge Handbook

Get the Challenge Handbook, with helper videos, audio and text PLUS daily warm ups and brainstorming exercises designed to jumpstart your writing, daily.

Write with us during May or go at your own pace.

Access immediately. (Will stay online as long as I’m running StoryADay!)

Only $31 during the challenge. Price increases to $97 on June 1, 2024

BUY NOW BUTTON

Day 1 – Your Fairy Art Parents

It’s Day 1! Let’s get started!

After we finish these five days, you will have a really strong sense of why you’re writing.

  • What you SHOULD be writing.
  • What your SHOULDN’T be writing.
  • WHO your role models and mentors are
  • How to stay on track and truly BELIEVE that you are a writer and you should be doing this work.

Over the next 5 days we’re going to create your ‘Writer’s Manifesto’, a document that will help you understand why writing matters to you and what you want to bring into the world, through you creativity.

It acts as a decision-filter for the way you work on every scene, every story, every piece.

Two Examples

When I was procrastinating on revisions to a story, I wasn’t sure what was wrong. Then I looked at my Writer’s Manifesto and realized that the cynical little story I had drafted didn’t match my goals for me, as a writer and human.

That realization freed me to let that draft go, and work on something better…which came much more easily.

Likewise, in trying to write a scene in my novel, it kept trending to a tone that didn’t match what I had written as my aspirations for my work. Remembering that allowed me to find a better tone for the scene, which then flowed better, because I believed in it more.

STEP 1 OF YOUR MANIFESTO


We start by figuring out who we admire, as creative — who are our ‘Fairy Art Parents’…

TASK


Write a list of creative people you admire and what attracts you to them.

Don’t spend too long on this.

For example, I wrote:

Amanda Palmer. For her commitment to making the art that only she can make and for finding ways to get paid for it. outwith traditional structures. And for her commitment to openness.

Mary Robinette Kowal science fiction, fantasy author, whose pursuit of the craft of writing and storytelling is detailed and, logical. For her willingness to share that with others and to keep on turning out her own work and building an audience at the same time.

Nick Stevenson for what I call his calculated openheartedness, the way that he communicates with his readers.

Kim Stanley Robinson for his unique style and optimism.

Neil Gaiman for the same things, and for the literary family tree that he grew out of.

Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams for their quirky style, their humor, their big ideas and for the fact that what I get from them. I can only get from them.

WRITE YOUR LIST

  • So write down your list of people who inspire you, writers, artists, creative types.
  • And then write down what it is that each of those people. What you admire about them and the way that they do business.

Today’s is a tiny task, but it lays the foundation for the really important process that we’re going through this week.

We’ll be back tomorrow to take the next step with this list that you’re making today.

Who did you pick as your Fairy Art Parents. Leave a comment and let us know!

Keep writing,

Julie (signed)

P. S. Have a friend who should be going through this challenge with you? Send them a link to sign up at storyaday.org/jan-challenge

2023 Day 8 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Today’s prompt is here

Week 1 is a wrap!

Today I was pretty happy with the very short story I wrote. When I got to the end I discovered something interesting, which I share in this video.

Also: now’s a great time to assess what went well last week and what you’ll keep/do differently during this coming week of the challenge (I talk about this, too, in this video)

Keep writing,

Julie

2023 Day 7 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Today’s prompt is here

Week 1 is a wrap!

Today I wrote badly and learned some things. I also got to hangout with the StoryADay Superstars and talk about writing, and it was moving, and inspired.

Hey you: if you’re reading this and writing at all: you’re pretty unusual and you’re pretty amazing.

Keep writing,

Julie

5 Days In May

Catch up with the first week of StoryADay May 2023 through the experiences of founder and writer, Julie Duffy

On this episode of the podcast I update you on how my StoryADay challenge is going this year, in the hopes that I’ll inspire you to get or keep going too!

Subscribe to the daily series here: http://stada.me/2023lives

00:00 StADa287 Five Days In May
01:14 D
04:40 Day 2
09:56 Day 3
13:41 Day 4
17:26 Day 5
21:21 Wrap up

And finally a remainder that know you can support this podcast, if you would like to, which some people have asked me about and to do that, you go to glow.fm/storyaday, and you can make a one-time or recurring donation to keep the show going. And I really appreciate your support. That’s it from me this week. Happy writing. And I’ll see you again soon.

Transcript available here

2023 Day 3 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Today’s prompt is here

I found today’s prompt challenging, perhaps because I was feeling the pressure to write about something weighty and important, which made me feel intimidated and stuck. But then I remembered my collection of Story Sparks, and I found inspiration in a personal experience that I gave to a different character.

I decided to write the story in third person and present tense to make it more experiential for the reader. This was different from what I had been writing the past couple of days, which were more narrative in form.

Through this experience, I was reminded of the importance of just getting started with writing. Even though parts of the prompt made me resist at first, I found that I had unknowingly incorporated them into my story.

Trusting yourself as a storyteller and putting words on the page, even if they feel choppy or imperfect, can lead to magic in your writing.

So, don’t fret about finding the perfect topic or having everything planned out. Just start writing and let the interesting stuff happen. Nobody needs to see it, and you might just end up with a big, stupid grin on your face like I did.

Keep writing, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s prompt on keeping things short!

2023 Day 2 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Day two of the challenge and I’m feeling great.

But, I made the classic mistake of not planning ahead, so I spent the first half hour doing admin instead of writing. I’m going to fix that tomorrow by planning my morning better.

The prompt today was from Mary Robinette Kowal:

“What’s in your character’s pocket?”

I used characters from my work in progress and wrote a self-contained story that I can later use as a scene in my novel. Other participants are using the challenge to push forward their work in progress in various ways.

What will YOU do?

Rachel Swearingen Interview Part 2

^^^ Watch (captions available)

Need the transcript?

˅˅˅ listen (mp3)

This time we talk about her favorite stories of her own and the writers she admires, working in short fiction now. We also talk about the importance of community for writers, and then Rachel turns the tables on me!

(You can find Part 1 of this interview, here)

Rachel Swearingen is the author of “How to Walk on Water and other short stories” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize. 

LINKS

This episode: storyaday.org/episode283

Rachel’s site: rachelswearing.com

Sign up for StoryADay May: http://storyaday.org/signup

Support the podcast: glow.fm/storyaday

Rachel Swearingen Intervew – on Writing

In this conversation with award-winning writer Rachel Swearingen we talk about how to build a writing practice that grows with you, the art of writing short and long fiction the importance of play, her residency in Berlin and about some of her short stories and how they came to be written.

^^^ Watch (captions available)

Need the transcript?

˅˅˅ listen (mp3)

Next time we’ll talk about her favorite stories of her own and the writers she admires, working in short fiction now. We also talk about the importance of community for writers, and then Rachel turns the tables on me!

Rachel Swearingen is the author of “How to Walk on Water and other short stories” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize. 

LINKS

This episode: storyaday.org/episode282

Rachel’s site: rachelswearing.com

Sign up for StoryADay May: http://storyaday.org/signup

Support the podcast: glow.fm/storyaday

Creative Rebellion – Episode 275

Join us as we talk about building a productive writing practice, no matter what…..

It’s an end-of-year episode with a twist (hint: don’t want to set New Year’s Resolutions? Join the rebellious crowd!)

Listen to the Audio

Full transcript here

Watch the video

Watch video with full transcript here

LINKS:

LINKS:

More Writing Help

StoryADay Short Story Framework

Download the free Short Story Framework and write today, not ‘some day’. Go from ‘idea’ to ‘the end’ without getting lost along the way!

StoryAWeek logo

Weekly writing prompts and lessons in your inbox, every Wednesday with the StoryAWeek Newsletter

StoryaDay 3-Day Challenge

Take the 3-Day Challenge and write three short stories this weekend!

Where’s My Butler? An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal about the writing life – Part 2

Join us as we talk about building a productive writing practice, no matter what…..

My conversation continues, with award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal as we discuss her new novel The Spare Man and the art of writing even in the face of challenges. Don’t miss it!

Listen to the Audio

Watch the video

Watch video with full transcript here

LINKS:

LINKS:

More Writing Help

StoryADay Short Story Framework

Download the free Short Story Framework and write today, not ‘some day’. Go from ‘idea’ to ‘the end’ without getting lost along the way!

StoryAWeek logo

Weekly writing prompts and lessons in your inbox, every Wednesday with the StoryAWeek Newsletter

StoryaDay 3-Day Challenge

Take the 3-Day Challenge and write three short stories this weekend!

An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal about writing “The Spare Man” – Part 1

Join us as we talk about writing, cocktails and the art of writing what you don’t know…

Murder! Cocktails! Adorable service dogs!

Award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal comes to the StoryADay podcast to discuss her new novel The Spare Man and the art of writing books you’d actually want to read. Don’t miss it!

Listen to the Audio

Watch the video

Watch video with full transcript here

LINKS:

LINKS
MaryRobinette.com
Mary Robinette Kowal’s Patreon
My Favorite Bit (10 best Fantine curses) 

More Writing Help

StoryADay Short Story Framework

Download the free Short Story Framework and write today, not ‘some day’. Go from ‘idea’ to ‘the end’ without getting lost along the way!

StoryAWeek logo

Weekly writing prompts and lessons in your inbox, every Wednesday with the StoryAWeek Newsletter

StoryaDay 3-Day Challenge

Take the 3-Day Challenge and write three short stories this weekend!

It’s Annual Review Time!

Don’t be afraid!

it’s that time of year when you’re supposed to make goals, but how to do it without getting bored, scared, disappointed or terrified? I have some thoughts…

Listen to the Audio

LINKS:

Never miss an episode: Subscribe to the Podcast

Link to this episode: https://storyaday.org/episode272

Join the discussion in the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group (SWAGr)

Need something to help you get closer to your purpose while setting or assessing your goals?

Get the Annual Planning Bundle

Read the accompanying article

Get writing prompts and lessons in your inbox every week with the StoryAWeek Newsletter

Annual Planning Bundle

Download the Annual Planning Bundle and always know your next, smallest step as you chase your writing goals.